Model Superliner

[Sel]

Looks nice. When are you going to texture it?

I have been trying!

I'm gonna keep working on painting it, but I am definitely by no means good at skinning (this is my second texture ever :S).

 

[lana]

If this is going to be some hazardous train that runs down players, it obviously needs to be brightly colored so players can see it whizzing past and not run into it.

 

[Sel]

the tf2 metal palette has these disgusting yellows if you'd like me to cover it in those!

 

[lana]

IMO, you should hire this guy again: http://forums.tf2maps.net/showpost.php?p=152029&postcount=31

 

[Sel]

Asking JC now.

 

[JoshuaC]

My services are needed elsewhere. Sorry.

 

[NanoSquid]

YES

trains

YES YES YES


Make a skin that's all blurry so when it goes by really fast it looks like it's motion blurred


edit: I've actually ridden from south florida to DC on one of these so I feel more connected to this than most models.


edited edit: While you're doing this type of train I have a request:

http://bricker.ru/images/sets/10001_brickset.jpg

^that was my favorite toy as a kid; it totally dominated my childhood. I think with a few modifications the Metroliner could be a great TF2 train.

At least the engine?? :3

Anyway, a stylized santa fe would be great to pull these passenger cars.

 

[Seba]

trashed the time zone (battle axes

Since when were the Middle Ages after 1962?

Sel: Use more shades of gray, for window trims, grates, etc.; try to not have any areas that are next to each other be the same colour and you should have a more realistic-looking skin.

 

[Acumen]

overall the train should be much darker metal. yes i know the ref, but it's just too contrasty in the world of tf2.
the colored stripes could need some wear and tear, so they're not perfectly straight over a distance of 10 meters. also they have too much contrast for the team colored stripes.
every metal part has the same exact color value. that's what the metal palette could be used for (it's not official valve metal palette by the way). more info on this can be found here:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73559

if you make the windows like the two darkest in here:
http://www.vistadome.com/trains/amtrak/amtrak_superliner_coach.jpg
you'll get away with the illusion of not having an interior modeled. try it - i just did bad paintover and it already looked much better, just with all windows being not that bright grey but very dark instead. really helps selling it. with the bright ones it draws too much attention and makes people expect an actual interior through the bright window. see train_caboose.mdl for example - works superfine

the train itself appears again very flat, since you didn't model out too many details, once more. for me that's the biggest downside of any of your models. it seems still that you didn't looked around the actual tf2 models to see how much detail actually is modelled in. yes, there are normal maps from time to time, but not at that much of a scale. 75% of your normal map detail could have been modeled and that's where you could have put the typical tf2 detail in it. broken parts, slightly rotated ventilation parts that are bend, pushed and whatnot. that all helps selling the tf2-style.
but the second big part missing is the decals. you could add funny railroad names, train type numbers - these are all things that make it real and alive.
also looking at the original trains to match style (texture and modelwise) doesn't hurt at all.

you can left all my nitpicking out - we have our history
but the decals, darker metal and window parts, i'm quite sure that would boost your texture in only 5 minutes time !

 

[lana]

Acumen has a point, but make sure that any details that stick out from the train aren't too expensive and won't be part of your collision mesh.

Since when were the Middle Ages after 1962?

At least those were invented before 1962. Suspension of disbelief a go-go.

 

[Sel]

Sel: Use more shades of gray, for window trims, grates, etc.; try to not have any areas that are next to each other be the same colour and you should have a more realistic-looking skin.

Alright.

Acumen has a point, but make sure that any details that stick out from the train aren't too expensive and won't be part of your collision mesh.

None of the details on the body of the train, aside from the lights on the front and back are geometry

you can left all my nitpicking out - we have our history
but the decals, darker metal and window parts, i'm quite sure that would boost your texture in only 5 minutes time !

I'm not going to ignore your crit if I feel it's valid, and a lot of the stuff you posted here seems more than reasonable.

overall the train should be much darker metal. yes i know the ref, but it's just too contrasty in the world of tf2.
the colored stripes could need some wear and tear, so they're not perfectly straight over a distance of 10 meters. also they have too much contrast for the team colored stripes.
every metal part has the same exact color value. that's what the metal palette could be used for (it's not official valve metal palette by the way). more info on this can be found here:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73559


if you make the windows like the two darkest in here:
http://www.vistadome.com/trains/amtrak/amtrak_superliner_coach.jpg
you'll get away with the illusion of not having an interior modeled. try it - i just did bad paintover and it already looked much better, just with all windows being not that bright grey but very dark instead. really helps selling it. with the bright ones it draws too much attention and makes people expect an actual interior through the bright window. see train_caboose.mdl for example - works superfine

Alright, will give this a go too.

the train itself appears again very flat, since you didn't model out too many details, once more. for me that's the biggest downside of any of your models. it seems still that you didn't looked around the actual tf2 models to see how much detail actually is modelled in. yes, there are normal maps from time to time, but not at that much of a scale. 75% of your normal map detail could have been modeled and that's where you could have put the typical tf2 detail in it. broken parts, slightly rotated ventilation parts that are bend, pushed and whatnot. that all helps selling the tf2-style.
but the second big part missing is the decals. you could add funny railroad names, train type numbers - these are all things that make it real and alive.
also looking at the original trains to match style (texture and modelwise) doesn't hurt at all.

I do realize that normal maps aren't exactly common with source tf2 models, and the engine doesn't handle them particularly well either, but I want to learn sub-d and this happens to be the only game I really enjoy playing.

As for decals, I'm not exactly at a point in photoshop where I can anything more than brush stoke various shades of gray onto the body of this, so we'll go from there and hope I'm good at this in the next few months :V

with a few modifications the Metroliner could be a great TF2 train.

At least the engine?? :3

Anyway, a stylized santa fe would be great to pull these passenger cars.

Link me to both, engines have a much higher freedom with details than this does :v

 

[VIVA LA NWO]

Since when were the Middle Ages after 1962?

Sel: Use more shades of gray, for window trims, grates, etc.; try to not have any areas that are next to each other be the same colour and you should have a more realistic-looking skin.

It doesn't fit in the time period? Just because it happened prior to the time period doesn't make it relevant to what would be going on...

Selentic, try fading the paint on the roof a bit, that might help with making the model look old like Acumen was saying.

 

[NanoSquid]

Link me to both, engines have a much higher freedom with details than this does :v

Metroliner was that Lego set I posted

And THIS is the Santa Fe Super Chief, one of the most beautiful machines built by man. /trainnerd

 

[Sel]

Looks beast, definitely doing it next.

 

[Tapp]

It looks like selentic is training for something big.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

It looks like selentic is training for something big.

http://instantrimshot.com/

 

[Sel]

I'm pretty terrible at this skinning game! (thank god these fly by at high speeds!)

 

[Steff0o]

better, definatly
but make more different colors, now its grey, with orange and some colored parts, make some parts lighter.

 

[Psy]

I still think your normal maps are too strong for TF2.

 

[Bermuda Cake]

maybe it needs some wood? And some dark patches, rust, etc.